Being Put On The Spot

How uncomfortable do you feel being put on the spot?

I recently spoke to a client who has worked in a senior position for his company for a number of years and couldn’t quite understand why considering he has a wealth of knowledge in his area of specialism and the market in general (he works in banking) , he stills find it uncomfortable being put on the spot and being able to say “I don’t know the answer”.

Often he ends up being defensive and during the session he realised that not only does this behaviour make him feel angry, it also makes him feel inadequate and out of control.

After some curious questioning (on both our parts), he came to realise that approaching the situation differently could not only benefit him but also the relationships he has with his work colleagues.

Sometimes its useful to remind ourselves of some basic steps that we can take. Here I share some ideas my client and I spoke about that you may also find helpful. These include:

• Checking your tone of your voice
• Avoiding verbalising everything that springs to mind
• Noticing your body language
• Owning the space

Please share any other actions you think are worth considering when being put on the spot. I would love to hear and I’m sure others would too!